1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for adjusting the height of a basketball goal.
2. The Background of the Invention
Because of the popularity of the sport of basketball, particularly in the United States, many people, especially families, mount a basketball goal on their property. This allows them to have ready access to a basketball goal to enjoy the sport of basketball.
Children, however, frequently find it frustrating to learn how to play basketball because the standard height of a basketball goal is ten feet and it is often difficult for children to throw the basketball that high. Thus, many families with small children find it desirable to install a basketball goal at a height which is much lower than the standard height. Indeed, families with many small children may be forced to sacrifice having a basketball goal at the standard height, which is suitable for adults, so that the children may more easily develop their basketball skills and more fully enjoy the game.
Although many small children have the ability to throw the basketball through the goal, this is usually only accomplished by exerting extreme effort, often at the expense of proper form. Many people never develop proper shooting form because, as small children, they developed an incorrect form because that was the only way they could throw the basketball high enough to reach the basket. Hence, another advantage of having a basketball goal at a lower height is that smaller children may learn proper basketball skills and practice shooting the basketball with correct form. Thus, the child does not have to relearn skills as he becomes stronger.
It will be appreciated by anyone with a knowledge of the sport of basketball that one of the most envied abilities associated with the sport is the ability to "dunk" the basketball. One dunks the basketball by throwing the basketball into the basketball goal from a position above the rim of the goal. Obviously, one must be extremely tall and/or possess an extraordinary leaping ability in order to position himself high enough to be able to dunk the basketball.
While many people are able to develop excellent basketball skills, it will be appreciated that very few people have the natural leaping ability and/or height to be able to dunk the basketball. So that one may be able to develop skills and practice different styles of dunking the basketball, it is often desirable to place the basketball goal at a height somewhat lower than the standard height. However, it is not usually practical to permanently mount a basketball goal at a lower height simply for the purpose of dunking the basketball. It is also not practical to have two basketball goals, one at the standard height and one at a lower height. Hence, most basketball goals are simply mounted at the standard height.
Because of the reasons mentioned above, many attempts have been made to design a basketball goal which is adjustable to several different heights. One design of an adjustable basketball goal employs a flexible cable and a pulley which can be operated to raise or lower the goal to the desired height. The goal is then affixed at that height by tying off the cable. Disadvantages to this type of design are that adjustment is very slow and the cable often experiences a short life span because of its constant exposure to the weather. Thus, because of the extreme amount of tension placed on the cable when the basketball goal is being used, especially when one dunks the basketball or hangs on the rim of the basketball goal, the cable could break. As the cable continually becomes weaker due to its constant exposure to a variety of weather conditions, the amount of tension required to break the cable gradually decreases until the actions of someone playing basketball are enough to cause the cable to break. When the cable does break, the break is usually caused by the actions of people using the goal. These people are endangered, and serious injury or death could result if they are in the path of the goal when the cable breaks should the goal fall to its lowest position.
Another design for an adjustable goal employs pivotally mounted parallel bars which connect the basketball backboard to a rigid mounting device such as a pole. The parallel bars combine with the basketball backboard and the rigid mounting device to form a parallelogram. Since the bars are pivotally mounted, they allow the backboard of the basketball goal to move to several different heights while remaining vertically disposed. Typically, once the basketball goal is at the desired height, it is secured in place by tightening one or more bolts which "lock" the parallelogram in place.
One of the disadvantages of this device is that whenever one desires to adjust the basketball goal, it requires the use of a ladder or similar device to enable one to reach the one or more bolts which must be loosened to "unlock" the basketball goal. This is complicated by the fact that when the bolt or bolts are loosened, the person adjusting the goal must support the entire weight of the goal until the goal has been set to the desired height and the bolt or bolts are tightened again. This can be both a strenuous and a dangerous task and may be impossible physically for many small children to perform. This is an unfortunate disadvantage because it is usually small children who have the greatest need for lowering the basketball goal. Yet another significant disadvantage of this type of design is that if the bolt or bolts become loosened through vibration or other means while the basketball goal is in use, the goal will fall to its lowest position, striking whomever may be in its path.
Yet another design for an adjustable basketball goal employs the same parallelogrammatic structure as the previously discussed design except a telescoping ratchet mechanism is employed, rather than a bolt or bolts, to secure the basketball goal in the desired position. As the goal is raised, a hinged pawl on one member engages a row of apertures in a second telescoping member, seriatim in a ratchet-like fashion. The configuration of the pawl permits the goal to be raised by applying an upward force to the basketball backboard, but the pawl will engage one of the apertures preventing downward movement if the upward force is removed. When the desired height is reached, the upward force is released and the pawl engages the aperture to which it is aligned preventing the goal from falling due to its own weight. From any of the intermediate height positions, the goal can be raised to a higher position, but it cannot be lowered to a lower position without neutralizing the pawl because the pawl will engage the nearest aperture preventing downward movement. To neutralize the pawl, the goal must be raised to its highest position, a position higher than the highest usable level for the goal, where the pawl engages an ear which cocks the pawl into a neutral position. With the pawl so neutralized, the basketball goal may be lowered because the pawl will not engage any apertures during the descent of the goal. As the goal reaches its lowest position, the pawl engages another ear which releases or trips the pawl back to its original, active position where it may again engage any of the apertures and secure the goal at the desired height.
One disadvantage of this design is that because of its complexity, it is both difficult and expensive to manufacture. Additionally, because basketball goals are often used outdoors and exposed to extreme weather conditions, its design requires frequent maintenance to ensure that the goal always works properly while reducing the risk that the locking mechanism will fail.
That the pawl is neutralized at the extreme uppermost position gives rise to another significant and possibly dangerous disadvantage. If, when the goal is at its highest usable level, a person dunks the basketball and momentarily hangs on the rim of the basket, the entire goal will spring upwardly upon release of the rim. If this upward force is substantial, the goal may spring upwardly causing the pawl to strike the ear which cocks the pawl into the neutral position. Neutralizing the pawl permits the basketball goal to crash to its lowest position, possibly causing serious injury or death to persons involved in the basketball game.
In order to reduce the danger in the potentially dangerous crashing of the basketball goal, a fluid cylinder has been used to prevent the basketball goal from rapidly falling when the pawl is neutralized. However, the fluid cylinder introduces a delay into the time it takes the basketball goal to be adjusted to the desired height because the assent and descent speed is retarded by the fluid cylinder. Additionally, the fluid cylinder does not prevent the pawl from being cocked into its neutral position under the conditions just described, nor does it obviate the necessity of having to readjust the height of the basketball goal when the pawl is neutralized and the basketball goal descends to its lowest height. Further, because the fluid cylinder is a separate accessory from the ratchet mechanism, the user may choose not to install it or the user may remove it if it becomes damaged or broken.
As an added precaution to reduce the potential for injury, a safety locking mechanism employing a tightening bolt has also been used to rigidly secure the height of the goal having adjustability provided by the ratchet mechanism described above. However, the basketball goal is often used without tightening the bolt to lock the ratchet mechanism in place because tightening the bolt would require employing a ladder to enable the user to reach the bolt. Furthermore, the bolt typically is at a height higher than the rim of the basket; hence, the higher the basketball goal is placed, the less likelihood there is that the user of the goal will be able to reach the bolt in order to secure the goal. Consequently, when the goal is at the standard height of ten feet, the bolt is positioned over ten feet high. Thus, the locking mechanism is least likely to be employed when the basketball goal is set at the highest usable level. It is at this level that it is critical to employ the locking mechanism to prevent the pawl from becoming neutralized inadvertently and the basketball goal from crashing to its lowest position.
It will be appreciated, therefore, that what is needed in the art are methods and apparatus for adjusting the height of a basketball goal which are easy and economical to manufacture, do not pose a danger to those who may use the device, are easily adjustable from one height to another without employing a ladder or similar device, and are durable and able to withstand constant exposure to a variety of weather conditions.